The World Gymnaestrada 2007 (officially: ''13th World Gymnaestrada 2007 Dornbirn'') took place from July 8 to July 14, 2007 in

Dornbirn Dornbirn () is a city in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg. It is the administrative centre for the district of Dornbirn, which also includes the town of Hohenems, and the market town Lustenau. Dornbirn is the largest city in Vorarlberg ...

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label=Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is ...

(

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

). Over 22,000 active gymnasts and their companions from 53 countries participated in this

World Gymnaestrada The World Gymnaestrada is the largest general gymnastics exhibition. It is held every four years much like the Olympics. But the focus of this event is not on winning medals. The Gymnaestrada is about Group Performances – some with hundreds o ...

. The event was characterized by the intense sympathy of the population and the approximately 8,000 volunteers. 22,000 athletes and coaches from 56 countries took part in the opening ceremony. The opening and closing ceremonies with a gymnastics show in the Birkenwiese Stadium each counted 30,000 spectators. Gymnaestrada2007_Wolfurt03

Location

The Dornbirn Exhibition Center and the Birkenwiese Stadium in the Schoren district formed the central hubs and meeting places of the World Gymnaestrada 2007. The daily non-stop group performances took place in the eight Trade Exhibition halls. As a highlight of the event, 16 national evenings with varied gymnastics shows were organized as well as three

FIG The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...

galas with the selected top classes. There were also large group performances at the Reichshof Stadium in

Lustenau Lustenau (; gsw, Luschnou) is a town in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg in the district of Dornbirn. It lies on the river Rhine, which forms the border with Switzerland. Lustenau is Vorarlberg's fourth largest town. Geography Luste ...

and diverse events at eight outdoor stages in Höchst,

Hard Hard may refer to: * Hardness, resistance of physical materials to deformation or fracture * Hard water, water with high mineral content Arts and entertainment * ''Hard'' (TV series), a French TV series * Hard (band), a Hungarian hard rock supe ...

Bregenz Bregenz (; gsw, label= Vorarlbergian, Breagaz ) is the capital of Vorarlberg, the westernmost state of Austria. The city lies on the east and southeast shores of Lake Constance, the third-largest freshwater lake in Central Europe, between Switze ...

Wolfurt Wolfurt is a municipality in the western Austrian state of Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label=Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area afte ...

Hohenems Hohenems (High Alemannic: ''Ems'') is a town in the Austrian state of Vorarlberg in the Dornbirn district. It lies in the middle of the Austrian part of the Rhine valley. With a population of 15,200, it is the fifth largest municipality in Vorarlbe ...

Rankweil Rankweil is a town in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg, in the district Feldkirch. It is the second largest town in the district Feldkirch and the eighth largest town in Vorarlberg. Geography Rankweil is located in the southern Rhine ...

and

Feldkirch Feldkirch may refer to: Places * Feldkirch, Vorarlberg, a medieval city and capital of an administrative district in Austria ** Feldkirch (district), an administrative division of Vorarlberg, Austria * Feldkirch (Hartheim), a village in the munici ...

Organisation

The organisers reported a total of 175,000 overnight stays by the Gymnaestrada participants: 25 percent in hotels, 75 percent in schools. 7,000 people were taken to or picked up from airports in

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

Friedrichshafen Friedrichshafen ( or ; Low Alemannic: ''Hafe'' or ''Fridrichshafe'') is a city on the northern shoreline of Lake Constance (the ''Bodensee'') in Southern Germany, near the borders of both Switzerland and Austria. It is the district capital (''Kre ...

and

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

. The World Gymnaestrada 2007 was a regional showcase project for promoting environmental friendliness of events. There were more than 60 sponsors for the event, six of which were the official main sponsors.

Goals

The World Gymnaestrada aims to publicise the value and versatility of general gymnastics around the world and arouse people's interest in exercise and sports activities. General gymnastics brings together gymnasts from different cultural backgrounds to contribute to a better understanding between peoples. In addition, it aims to promote health, fitness and global solidarity.

Photo gallery

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References

External links

Website of the World Gymnaestrada Dornbirn
{{Authority control Gymnastics competitions in Austria Sport in Vorarlberg Sports venues in Austria 2007 in Austrian sport International sports competitions hosted by Austria July 2007 sports events in Europe